1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheets processing apparatus for reversing the front and back of each paper-like material and reversing the conveying direction thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as a sheets processing apparatus for reversing the front and back of each paper-like material and reversing the conveying direction thereof, for example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,726,199 (Apr. 27, 2004), a switchback device equipped with a switchback portion respectively on both sides of the conveying path is known.
The switchback device repeats an operation of receiving a paper-like material conveyed via the conveying path by one switchback portion, reversing the conveying direction, sending it out onto the conveying path, receiving another paper-like material by the other switchback portion, reversing the conveying path, and sending it out onto the conveying path, thereby continuously switches back a plurality of paper-like materials continuously conveyed.
However, the switchback device is designed so as to process paper-like materials which are comparatively thin and soft such as banknotes and are not suited to paper-like materials such as postal mattes which are comparatively thick and hard like letters. Namely, the switchback device suddenly bends the conveying direction of a paper-like material conveyed via the conveying path, leads it to the switchback portion installed in the direction almost perpendicular to the conveying path, when ejecting it from the switchback portion to the conveying path, suddenly bends the paper-like material, and ejects it to the conveying path, so that it cannot process normally thick and hard paper-like materials.
If it is intended to process a thick and hard paper-like material such as a postal matter by the switchback device, the device must be made larger to increase the curvature of the part for bending the conveying direction of the paper-like material, thus a problem arises that the device must be made larger.